And Secrets You Weren't Supposed To Find Out
by PomergranateNNAA
Summary: AU. Someone is a fan of happy endings. This screwed up the entire project, and got many people killed. And Naruto? He's clueless. /Under slight revision/ By Pomergranate.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer - If I owned Naruto, why would I be writing fanfiction?**

**Chapter 1**

Naruto grabbed his orange jacket from its position on the floor, quickly pulling it over his midnight black T-shirt. He went to the mirror and put on his 'happy face'.

The large grin looked false to him. _Why didn't everyone notice it? Why didn't they know? Could they really be that stupid?_

Naruto shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, and went out the door, not bothering to brush his hair or his teeth. He never got sick, his teeth were never yellow, and his hair couldn't be worked with at all.

He jumped out the door, and landed easily on a roof. Naruto was leaping towards Team 7's meeting place, absorbed in his thoughts.

_My sensei doesn't even notice I'm faking it. Sakura wouldn't, because she never pays attention to me, and Sasuke is just unobservant. I think Kakashi knows I'm not as happy as I seem, but he doesn't know how bad it is. And maybe Shikamaru, if it wasn't too troublesome to think about. But no one else, at least I do--_

Naruto stumbled backwards, and sheepishly rubbed his head.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't see you there..."

"That's alright, but could you tell us where to find Uzumaki Naruto?" asked a warm, lilting voice. It had a slight accent.

Naruto looked up to see a light purple haired woman with slanted green eyes. She was wearing black shorts with a bright orange jacket with a light orange shirt underneath.

"It'd be very helpful." said a different voice from a few feet away. It was deeper, but sounded cheerful.

Naruto turned around and saw the Yondaime, standing next to him.

His first words were, "This is not going to be a fun day."

* * *


	2. Someone Trusted

**

* * *

**

Chapter 2

They didn't seem to notice his words, and the woman kept on talking, smiling softly in-between words.

"Could you ple-

Naruto cut her off, his face quickly becoming a scowl.

"What'd you want me for this time?"

She looked puzzled, and the smile dropped from her pretty face. She seemed upset, and slightly angry.

"I don't k-

Naruto cut her off again, becoming bored of predictable reactions.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, now what do you want me for this time? Because whatever it is, I haven't done anything this morning."

"Could you answer some questions for me? Please?" she asked, an underlying tone of pleading in her voice.

Naruto thought for a few seconds before answering. He sighed, and sat down on the roof, and put his head on his hand.

"Sure, since you're being nice. It's better than being dragged off. 'Sides, Kakashi-sensei is always late, I doubt I'll get in trouble."

She looked startled for a second, like she wasn't expecting that answer, then she smiled gently. Naruto could tell that this smile was real, not just a fake one to get people to tell her things. He relaxed slightly.

"My name is Yuuki. What's your favorite food? Your favorite color? Your favorite animal? Do you have a crush on someone?"

Naruto blinked. He didn't understand how this had anything to do with whatever they thought he did, but he answered anyway, since he said he would.

"Ramen, orange, foxes, and no, I don't, but I know someone who has a crush on me."

He noticed her scribbling something down in a black leather notebook before putting it away.

Her green eyes looked up and met his. They were filled with tears. Then she dropped her eyes and spoke again.

"Do you hate your parents for making you an orphan? Is your childhood painful? Do you want to be someone else?"

The blond shinobi moved forward as though to stop her, but he backed off quickly when he realized Naruto was watching him.

Naruto could feel the bitterness swelling up inside him again. This time he didn't try to stop it, and when he finally spoke, it was in a low, dark tone.

"I don't hate my parents, I hate everyone. I was kicked out of the orphanage at two, and I lived on the streets 'till four. I have one thing to ask you. What the hell are you playing at? You're an adult. You know I have the Kyuubi sealed inside me. How the hell could you think I might have a decent life? Either you're really sheltered, or you're just plain stupid."

Naruto stood up, his blue eyes flashing as he walked away. He had wanted to say worse words, but he had to be able to control his anger.

Naruto smiled brightly again, his anger disappearing quickly. The mask had been put in place; however, somebody might find a few cracks in the ground around the Hokage monument the next day.

He didn't see the two ninja again that day, though he did feel a strange presence following him at times.

"He's so bitter...did we do the right thing, Arashi?"

"I...don't know. I thought he'd be able to bear it. I thought he'd at least have some friends, but...he has none."

"I wish this didn't happen. Arashi, I'm a torture specialist, and I'm crying. Why?"

"I couldn't tell you. But I can tell you this; he's not living like this anymore. I'm not letting it happen."

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets, wearing a thick shirt to cover the scent and sight of his blood.

He felt a strong pulling on his mind, and smiled grimly. It was the work of the two ninja he had met the day before, he was sure. But Naruto didn't resist it, there was no point, not in his head. He'd just have to deal with them.

As soon as he was in the park, he felt a pair of arms circle his chest. The metallic scent of blood mixed with ginger met his nose. He could feel the sobbing of her as she talked.

"I'm so sorry, my little Naruto. I should have done something, anything..."

Naruto turned around, his sad, world weary eyes meeting hers. He spoke quietly, as though afraid to scare her off.

"Can you explain?"

Yuuki took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm your mother. And Arashi is your father. He...we, devised a jutsu that would allow us to come back, from death, if someone alive was ready to die for us. We asked an elder, who was going to die anyway, so we wouldn't feel so bad. It can only be used once, though. You're so grown up now...I can only remember you as a baby, but, Naru-chan, I had a choice. I could've stayed with you, and Arashi would die, since he needed my help to do the jutsu, or I...could do this. I-I thought this way would be better..."

Her arms tightened around him, and her sobs became louder. Her vivid green eyes were cloudy with tears.

Naruto laughed, his smile becoming bigger, and happier. For the first time in his life, he wanted to smile. He had a family. It was all he asked for each night. And he could forgive. He would've done the same thing.

"It's okay, Okaasan. I'm not mad. I've...always wanted a family."

She heard the pure joy in his voice, and stopped crying, wiping the tears away with her hand. She whispered under her breath, "Thank you, Kami. Thanks."

Her voice became brisk, and clear.

"Right, well you can't stay in that apartment. You're staying with us, at Arashi's house. That's right, ARASHI! Get down here, now!"

She leaned down to Naruto and said, "He hates emotional scenes, which was why he wasn't here. Don't hold against him, he just doesn't like crying and hugging."

Naruto was still grinning when he spoke. "I don't care. I'll make him buy me ramen for it, though."

She grinned the large foxy grin that Naruto was famous for.

"Good, I won't have to teach you to blackmail people."

"And I'm going to be in a house with both of you…sometimes I wonder if Kami-sama hates me…"

Arashi was standing beside them, his face in an adorable 'Sad Puppy Look'. He was wearing a black jacket with flames up the sides, white pants, and a black T-shirt.

Yuuki sighed, and then ignored him.

"And we'll have to get you some new clothes, orange is good, but the jumpsuit is too much…"

Naruto felt his arm grabbed, and felt like the world was flowing around him, like he wasn't even in the same dimension anymore.

"Arashi, I asked you not to do that. I hate moving that fast, it's annoying. And what will everyone think, seeing that again?"

Arashi smiled, and let go of her arm. He pointed to a large, multi-colored mansion. It looked like it had enough room for half of Konoha.

"That's my house. You can sleep anywhere you like. If there's anyone you trust, they can have a room too, for when they come visit. Have fun exploring it. The ramen is in the room with flames on the walls. Stay away from the orange room, it has healthy food, and your mother will make you eat it."

Naruto stared. He had seen this house before, but he'd never thought he'd ever live in it. He wanted to share this with someone, but who could he trust?

_Not Sakura, she's too mean to me, and she wouldn't believe it. Not Kakashi, he has things to do, and he's older than me. Sasuke was always out of the question. Shikamaru would say it's too troublesome. Who else is nice to me? Maybe Hinata, she's quiet, she'd be happy for me…yeah, Hinata would be perfect._

"Hey, Tousan, can I go get one of my friends now? I want to tell someone about this, just to make sure it's real."

Arashi shrugged. He looked at Yuuki, and shoes his words carefully; she was a powerful force when she was mad.

"Alright, sure. It won't hurt, but don't take long."

Naruto flashed a smile at them before jumping away.

* * *

He found Hinata training with her team. She looked tired, as though she'd seen too many things she hadn't wanted to see.

_I hope she doesn't faint again. I didn't think crushes were that strong, but I guess Hinata proved that theory wrong._

"Hey, Hinata, you want to get some ramen with me? Sakura and Sasuke won't go, and you're my next best friend."

Naruto asked from beside her.

Hinata's face turned red, but she didn't faint. Her words were quiet, but they had a strange strength to them.

"If sensei says it's okay…"

Naruto didn't waste time replying to her. He shouted loudly at Kurenai.

"Hey, can Hinata eat ramen with me!?"

Kurenai smiled. She knew of the Hyuuga girl's crush, and decided to let her go. She seemed distracted anyway.

"Of course. Don't take too long."

Hinata didn't have time to speak. Naruto grabbed her arm and ran away, his grin becoming larger. He didn't think about how much he was acting like his father.

He stopped a good distance away on a roof.

Hinata was shocked as Naruto turned towards her with a serious look on his face.

"Hinata, you're probably my closest friend. I want to give you something, and I want to tell you something. First, I'm not as happy as you think. Until today, I don't think I've ever really meant the smile I kept on my face. As for what I'm giving you…I'm going to show it to you now."

Hinata stood still, for a few seconds before hugging Naruto. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I-I saw a-all of that. I s-saw you cry. I-I'm horrible. I-I thought y-y-you would be a-alright….."

Naruto didn't move. He was about to smile and say it was all okay, when he remembered what he had told her. She was his friend now. He wouldn't lie.

"I don't think you're horrible, you're just shy. You were afraid of me. You didn't want me to hate you. And I…understand. I've felt the same way so many times…"

Hinata looked up, smiled, and took his hand. Her voice was soft, gentle. She knew they were friends now. She knew that no matter what she did, he'd never hate her.

"Can I see the gift now, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded, and jumped into the air, being careful not to let her hand go.

Naruto stepped through a window, and landed lightly on the floor. Hinata followed him.

He opened the door, and went into the hallway. He could hear voices downstairs, and Hinata's.

"Naruto-kun, isn't this the Fourth's house? Are you sure we should be here?"

"That's why I brought you here. You see…this woman, and the Yondaime, they say there're my parents. They say they've used a jutsu to avoid death, and they've only gotten back now. Do you…think it's true?"

Hinata stayed silent for a few seconds. Her mind had already made a plan, she just wasn't sure if it was good enough.

"I think you should go and talk to them. I'll use Byakugan to see if they mean what they say."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, that's a good idea, Hinata-hime. I'll do it. Just stay a bit behind me."

Hinata blushed a bit when she heard the suffix he attached to her name. She slipped behind him as he ran down the stairs and opened up the door where the voices came from.

"Tousan, Kaasan, I'm back. Is there a room with white flowers, or sparkles or something?"

Arashi turned and looked at him, not noticing the girl hiding behind him.

"There's one that's lavender. It has a large window, and it has lilies and snow painted on the walls. Is that good?"

"Yeah!"

Naruto noticed Yuuki then, who was cooking something in pots. Naruto knew it wouldn't be ramen.

"Kaasan, what's for supper?"

"Rice, beans, and ramen sauce, Naru-chan."

Naruto felt a tugging on his shirt, and turned around to look at Hinata. She spoke in a whisper.

"They're not lying, Naruto-kun."

Arashi saw her. He contained the voice in his head telling him to hurt her, and asked her a question in a low tone.

"How are you related to Hyuuga Hiashi?"

* * *


	3. Under Her Mask

* * *

Hinata ducked her head down and bowed before replying.

"He is…my father."

Arashi was clearly surprised. He wanted to know why she was so shy when she seemed to be the Heiress to the Hyuuga clan.

"Are you his oldest child?"

Hinata knew what he was trying to find out, since so many people wanted to know the same thing from her.

"I am, however, Father is very disappointed with me because I don't fight well against people I care about."

Arashi looked at her, sadness evident in his eyes. He knew what it was like to have a father who thought you were weak.

"I understand. If you ever need a place to stay, or someone to teach you something, Yuuki and I will help."

Naruto interrupted them, wanting to get the subject changed to something more cheerful.

"Kaasan, what's ramen sauce?"

Yuuki's voice sounded tired as she replied, as though she had been asked too many questions about that subject.

"It's a sauce I made for your Tousan, who won't eat healthy food. Since it tastes like ramen, he'll eat my cooking. If it didn't taste like ramen, he'd eat a little bit, but only to please me."

Naruto burst out laughing, and at his side, Hinata giggled, putting one hand over her mouth.

* * *

"End of hallway, to the left, end of hallway, to the left…"

Naruto kept repeating the words until he found the room his father has described to him. Hinata walked behind him, wearing a plain white jacket that Yuuki had given her.

He opened up the door, smiling.

"Here's your room, Hinata-hime. You can come here whenever you want."

Hinata gasped. The room was large, and it was colored white and lavender. The floor was made out of ebony wood, and it matched nice with the walls. There was a window that took up half of the room. She could see the waterfalls that streamed down the Hokage cliffs from it. There wasn't anything else in the room, except for a light made out of crystal.

Before she could ask why there wasn't any furniture, Naruto answered her question.

"As soon as you decide what you want in your room, tell me. We can go buy whatever you want. It'll be fun."

Hinata nodded, before she thought of something else.

"Naruto-kun, are you going to wear different clothes now? Will your parents allow to wear…your…jumpsuit?"

Naruto drifted into thought for a second.

_My parents, that sounds so nice. It's like that broken, forgotten dream came true, seven years from when I gave it up…wait, Hinata-hime's talking to me!_

"Sorry, Hinata-hime, I wasn't paying attention. I'll go downstairs and ask Kaasan."

Naruto grinned before running away. Hinata sighed, but she followed him, stepping softly.

"Kaasan, Hinata-hime and me are going to get some new clothes for me. Are you coming?"

She got off the fluffy couch she was lying on, and yawned.

"Well I can't let you go alone, Naru-chan. You might have bad fashion sense, like your father, and Hinata here admires you to much to stop you from doing whatever you want."

Hinata blushed. Deeply.

Naruto noticed it, and smiled at her.

"It's okay, Hinata-hime. But you shouldn't admire me. I just put up a better mask than you."

Hinata seemed to think about that for a few seconds before nodding.

"I understand. Could you stop that now? Please?"

Naruto wasn't expecting her to be so observant, but he laughed anyway.

"Yeah, alright. Only 'cause it's you though, Hinata-hime."

Hinata beamed.

Yuuki, however, looked thoughtful.

"Hinata, I bet you haven't had much training on anything besides the Gentle Fist style. If you want, I'll train you in some other things."

The answer came back, a bit louder and stronger than normal.

"I would like that."

"Aren't we supposed to be buying clothes for me?" Naruto asked.

Yuuki blinked.

"Yeah, we are…hmm, Naru-chan, you go home. Get your father to train you. Me and Hinata will pick out the clothes."

Naruto was slightly worried, considering what his mother was wearing at the time (a long blue jacket with black lines criss-crossing it, green shorts, no shoes, and a bright orange and black T-shirt) but he left.

"Come, Hinata. This is going to be fun!" Yuuki said, smiling brightly.

Hinata sweatdropped.

* * *

"Tousan, Kaasan said you'd train me or something……"

Arashi looked up from his bowl of ramen, his face becoming serious quickly.

"Alright, I thought this'd happen. Here, these are weights, one set for you, and one set for your friend, the Hyuuga girl. When you get to a hundred pounds, then I'll teach you some jutsus."

Naruto blinked, and grabbed the weights. He put them on, glaring at the silver bracelets as though they caused all his problems.

"If you hit it, it'll go up ten pounds. So you should avoid accidentally hitting things. If you need to take it off, there's a small hole on one side. Push some chakra into and around the hole."

Arashi looked down. He thought Naruto would have answered.

Naruto was lying on the floor, asleep.

* * *

"HEY! We're back, Arashi-kun, Naru-chan."

She found them both asleep, and ramen bowls scattered around the room. Yuuki picked up the other set of weights and gave them to Hinata.

"Here, these are yours. Ask Naruto for instructions about them."

"Alright, Yuuki-sensei."

Yuuki looked at the clock. It was 11 o'clock.

"Hinata, you should go home, now. I'll take care of these two. If your father asks about anything, tell him this: Never argue with Yuuki Mitarashi. He'll know what it means."

Hinata nodded, hiding her surprise. She didn't know her sensei was related to Anko.

* * *

"Hinata, where were you? You are not allowed to be this late."

"Father, I was requested to tell you this: Never argue with Yuuki Mitarashi."

The blood drained from Hiashi's face. He seemed to be shaking, almost laughing. When he spoke, his voice was stern, but not angry.

"Go to your room, Hinata. You have been excused."

Hinata pulled out her diary. It seemed like a good day to write in it.

I feel so happy. I don't think I admire Naruto that much anymore. I know I can be like him. Maybe next time I fight Neji, I'll actually fight. I will. Why should I care if he's hurt? He's hurt me enough times. Why should I care about my clan? Why should I be nice, shy, sweet, caring? Who told me I had to be like that? I won't be, not anymore. Tomorrow, the world will see the true Hinata. And I pity them.

However, I wonder, how does sensei know Hiashi? I'm not calling him Father anymore, he doesn't deserve that title. 

I guess that's a question to sleep on, because I can't answer it.

Hinata went to sleep, the bitter thoughts she had repressed for so long swirling in her mind.

* * *

"Put down the ramen. Now."

"But Kaasan, I always eat ramen for breakfast…"

"I don't care. No ramen. It's not healthy. "

"I can't get sick. I can't be unhealthy, so it doesn't matter."

Yuuki sat down, looking solemn.

"Oh. Well I guess you can have ramen, at least for today."

Arashi sat down, some rice in his mouth. He swallowed it, and smiled at Naruto.

"Are you going to see your friend today, Naruto?"

Naruto was relived his father hadn't started calling him 'Naru-chan' as well, so it took a few seconds before he answered.

"No. She's not in my team, anyway, so I don't think so."

Arashi stopped moving.

"She isn't? I wonder…"

Naruto waved his hand around, trying to distract his father, who was apparently lost in thought.

Suddenly Arashi grinned.

"Come on, Naruto. We're going to talk to the Hokage about this. I bet I still have some influence."

* * *


	4. Thank The Light

* * *

The Hokage looked up from his papers, and his face turned white.

"A-Arashi?"

Arashi grinned.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm just here to ask a favor. You see, Naruto would like Hyuuga Hinata on his team, and I think it'd be good for both of them."

Naruto hit him on the arm, frowning.

"Tousan, you can't just walk in here and ask something. Everyone thinks you're dead! All those people were staring at you when we came here."

Arashi smiled sheepishly.

"You're as bad as your mother…what am I supposed to tell them? That I'm here because of a jutsu? Everyone'd want a jutsu that cheats death!"

The Hokage had slightly gotten over his fright.

"Perhaps we could say we didn't know how you got here, but that we suspect someone used a jutsu."

Arashi turned back to the Hokage.

"That's a decent idea. We'll do it."

The Hokage chose his words carefully.

"If I may ask, if you are Naruto's father, who is his mother?"

Arashi shook his head.

"I can't tell you. She's made me promise to allow her to do that herself."

The Hokage was writing something down as he talked.

"Arashi, you will be in ANBU, or if you like, Hokage again. As for Hyuuga Hinata, she can be put into Naruto's team. It shouldn't cause that much of a problem. Naruto will inform her of this, and he will inform Hiashi of Arashi's state. Arashi will stay here."

Naruto left, not bothering to talk to them. He wasn't even going to spy on them.

* * *

"Hinata-hime, guess what?"

Hinata looked up from her training. She had put on the weights, and figured out how they worked that morning. At the moment she was doing pushups.

"What, Naruto-kun?"

"Tousan got the Hokage to put you in my team. It'll be much more fun with someone who doesn't completely ignore me."

Hinata let out a small yelp as she stood up. Her legs and arms hurt.

Naruto wasn't worried. He knew Hinata wasn't hurt, he couldn't smell her blood, and so it was impossible to him.

"That's good. I like my team, but I don't trust them as much as you."

"You can trust Kakashi-sensei too. He acts like a jerk, but he cares a lot about us, I can tell."

Naruto could tell. Every time he or Sakura or Sasuke got hurt, even a little bit, he could sense Kakashi's worry.

"Okay."

"Hey, do you know where your father is? I have a message for him too."

Hinata nodded. She made a gesture for him to follow as she walked into her house.

They found him fighting Hanabi in the training room.

"Hiashi, Uzumaki Naruto has a message for you."

Hiashi stared at his daughter, wondering why she had started calling him Hiashi.

Naruto moved in front of Hinata before he could say anything, almost as though he was protecting Hinata.

"My message is simple. My Tousan, Arashi Kazama, is alive. We're not sure why, or how. I believe the Hokage would like you to check that he is Arashi Kazama, just to make sure."

Hiashi glared at him.

"How do you know that I can see through illusions?"

Naruto answered calmly, rolling his eyes as well.

"First, Hinata-hime is my teammate. Second, it's in the library."

Hiashi looked at his oldest child, clearly surprised.

"Hinata is your teammate?"

Naruto grinned cheekily.

"She is now. I asked Tousan to help me out."

Hiashi was about to hit him when Hinata slipped out from behind him, and spoke loudly, a mischievous smile playing on her face.

"Hiashi, I don't think you'd want to do that. It would cause a problem with his family. And also, me."

Hiashi stopped in shock. He never knew his daughter could be so assertive. He lowered his hand, and turned around.

"I will see the Hokage soon. Hinata, stay here. I wish to talk to you."

Naruto left, smiling brightly with a touch of evil. He was confident that Hinata would show him that she wasn't to be messed with.

Hiashi sat down, and motioned for Hanabi to leave. She did leave, but Hinata noticed a spark of defiance in her eyes.

An amused smile crept up her face.

Hiashi was not happy. He didn't like things he couldn't understand, and Hinata becoming confident suddenly was one of the things he didn't understand. Still, he never understood how she could be like that in the first place, as her mother was so fiery.

"What did you want, Hiashi?"

Hiashi almost winced at how cold her voice was. He knew that Hikari wouldn't have liked it.

"Hinata…why do you call me Hiashi now?'"

Hinata laughed bitterly.

"I'm not going to be the heiress, Hanabi is. So I figured I should start calling you Hiashi now. Don't ever expect me to call you Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi felt like an idiot. He hadn't understood his daughter for years now, and he hadn't even realized it. He wondered if he was still the 'jerkish, kind, funny, annoying, half evil, half good' person that Hikari had loved.

"I don't want to have to do that. I want you to be the heiress; so that you can both be saved…I just want…"

He was speaking truthfully to her. As he said the last words, a picture of a cheekily grinning girl with short brown hair, and pure white eyes filled his mind.

His lips formed her name without saying it.

"Hikari."

Hinata looked at him curiously. She didn't remember her mother, though she supposed she had one.

Hiashi sighed, and looking at his daughter his eyes widened, and then became gentler. Her face was set in the same way Hikari looked when she was completely confused, but curious anyway.

"Hinata, how strong are you?"

Hinata's face turned cold.

"I am…most likely better than Neji."

Hiashi nodded, he wasn't surprised. He had paid so little attention to her that it was very possible she was stronger than Neji.

"I have one question. Why can't you fight that well?"

Hinata glared at him, and Hiashi could see his younger self in her narrowed eyes.

"I didn't want to hurt my family. I won't bother with that anymore."

Hiashi smiled, and a bit of happiness leaked out of it.

"I think the elders will be having a surprise. I will be happy to train you in anything you think you should practice."

Hinata looked up quickly, but she masked her surprise.

"Why are you helping me now?"

Hiashi smiled sadly.

"Hinata, I'm sorry. I haven't been paying attention to you for years, since your mother died. When you came in here, you reminded me of her. She was…a rebel. Her name was Hikari, and like her name she brought light into everyone's life. She loved you and Hanabi and me as well, at least, I think she did. She was so cheeky…I just realized she would hate me for how I was treating you. I understand that I have changed from the person I was before. I am not asking for your forgiveness, I am asking for another chance."

Hinata grinned, and hugged her father.

"Bye, Tousan, I have to go. You've earned my forgiveness, if you wanted it or not."

Surprise was evident on his face as she left.

Hiashi watched Hinata ran off, feeling peaceful for the first time since Hikari died. He knew he had done what would have wanted.

As Hiashi left to find Hanabi he whispered something under his breath.

"Thank you, Hikari."

* * *

Hinata ran to where Naruto had told her Team 7's meeting place was, the grin still on her face. Her father didn't hate her, and never had.

She stopped a few feet away from Naruto. Normally her face would have been burning, but right then her eyes were shining with an inner light.

"Yo."

Hinata turned around and blushed.

Kakashi just smiled.

"Mind introducing yourself?"

Hinata didn't blush long. The large smile came back as she introduced herself.

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I'm the Hyuuga heiress, though I only use that title when I have to. Naruto-kun is my best friend. I am good in stealth, and I remember things easily, however I also have a lot of chakra so I'm decent at attacking. I have two dreams. I want to change my family, and I want to be stronger than the ninja known as the Sannin."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. Her dreams were almost impossible, but he could feel the power in her voice. He knew she'd do whatever it took to achieve what she wanted.

"Alright…well, welcome to the team, Hinata."

Hinata nodded, and played with her hands.

* * *

After a day of doing boring chores, Naruto was sitting beside Hinata, chatting with her when Arashi poofed up beside them. As soon as he saw Kakashi he burst out laughing.

Kakashi's eye widened.

"Arashi-sensei?"

Arashi stopped laughing, grinning widely.

Sasuke looked confused, and stared at Arashi.

"That's right Kakashi, it's me. I'm officially alive again. You'd better had been a good sensei to my kid. Though I'm surprised you're a sensei at all. Last time I saw you, you were an ANBU captain."

Sasuke struggled to keep his uninterested face, while Kakashi seemed happy. Hinata and Naruto were watching them, barely able to stop themselves from laughing.

"So, Naruto, let's go for a walk through town. We'll see what they call you then."

Naruto's answer was rather loud.

"YES!!"

* * *


	5. Sasuke Isn't A Good Teammate

* * *

Arashi walked through the market, talking loudly to Naruto about his mother.

"Remember not to make her mad…she's dangerous. I don't give up easily, but she's another story. I've seen her take blows that should have killed her, and get back up and fight. They always said she was a genius, and I was a dropout. Maybe that's why…."

Naruto shook his head, smiling brightly.

"No. Geniuses are people who learn things easily. People who don't give up, they're the ones who are legends."

Sasuke snorted, his eyes betraying her anger that Naruto suddenly had a family, and he didn't.

Arashi agreed with him easily, not really caring.

"Right. Like our little Hinata. I'm sure she'll be a legend one day."

Hinata ducked her head down to hide her pleased smile.

Arashi felt a tugging on his pants. A young girl with brown hair and light blue eyes was innocently asking him a question.

"Are you the Yondaime?"

Her mother grabbed her and pulled her aside, scolding her.

"The Yondaime's dead. This must be that…creature's father."

Arashi smiled lightly, before glaring at her. When he spoke, his voice was low and deadly.

"I am Kazama Arashi, and I suggest you don't insult my son while I'm in hearing. You'd think, after all I did for these villagers, they would at least treat my family with respect."

His last words were softer, ones that you couldn't hear if you weren't close to him.

"I _died_ for this village…"

The woman looked bewildered. When she spoke, her voice trembled worse than Hinata's voice had before.

"A-A-Arashi-sama?"

Arashi smile came back full force, but you could tell it was fake. That it was just a cover for his anger.

"Yes. Someone used a jutsu to revive me, apparently."

Naruto, who had been watching in amusement, spoke up.

"What about Kaasan? She won't be happy that you forgot to mention her."

Arashi nodded.

"Right. This is why I'm glad I have a son. He can help me from making stupid mistakes with Yuuki."

Everyone was staring at them. Naruto walked up to a villager selling tomatoes, and waved his hand in front of his face. He didn't move.

Arashi shook his head.

"You'd think they were all under a genjutsu."

He raised his voice.

"I'll be staying at my house. If you wish to see me, come there, and pray that Yuuki will let you in."

Naruto walked off, feeling strangely smug.

Hinata looked at Sasuke as though he was insane for not saying anything, and then followed Naruto.

* * *

The next day, Naruto and Hinata were sparring, and waiting for Kakashi. When he showed up, he looked a little bit too cheerful.

"I've entered you all in the Chunnin exams."

Hinata stumbled, but she didn't show any other signs of surprise. Naruto fell down on his back, and glared at Kakashi.

"You had to startle me. Now I've lost."

Sasuke was confused. And he didn't like it. His teammates had just changed from who he thought they were. In his mind, Hinata would have nodded, and Naruto would have started yelling that he would be a Chunnin.

Hinata's voice cut through Sasuke's thoughts.

"Are you sure about this, Kakashi-sensei? You haven't known me very long…."

Kakashi smiled.

"Experience will help all of you. I don't expect you to become a Chunnin, but this will be good for you. I don't think you'll die."

Hinata sighed. She was sure her and Naruto were ready, but Sasuke didn't seem to want to work with them.

* * *

Naruto could sense the genjutsu when he first saw it. It was one of the reasons that having an evil fox demon in you wasn't completely bad.

Hinata noticed it too, even though she wasn't really paying attention.

Sasuke could see that Naruto and Hinata had figured out the jutsu. He didn't understand how Naruto could have, and decided that his father must have trained him. Despite himself, he felt a bit of pride. He had not father for about half of his life, and he was as good as ever. A smirk was evident on his face.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and looked at Hinata who took a few deep breaths. Niether of them could stand Sasuke's 'I'm better than you' smirk.

They dragged him through the door, ignoring Lee, kiba and Sakura, who was trying to get Sasuke's attention. As soon as they were in, Hinata put a small genjutsu on them so they wouldn't be noticed. Naruto kept a close eye on Kabuto, as he smelled like snake, and he shouldn't have.

* * *

Hinata nudged Naruto, and when she got his attention, she scribbled something down on the edge of his paper.

Naruto looked down and covered it with his hand before reading her note.

_The purpose of the test is to cheat. I'll find the answers with Byukagan, and tell them to you. Sasuke can cheat better than both of us._

_Hyuuga Hinata_

Naruto jerked his head up and down, being careful not to attract anyone else's attention. They had agreed on a code before even starting the test. If Hinata said her name was Hyuuga Hinata, and never Hinata, then she was Hinata.

Naruto had to say 'ramen, orange, and foxes' to anything she said or wrote to him.

He realized that and muttered softly.

"Ramen, orange, and foxes."

Hinata smiled, and switched her test with his, giving him her test with the answers filled out. Her name was not on the top, so Naruto scribbled his name on.

* * *

"If you take the last question and don't get it, you will stay a gennin forever. You may also leave right now, and come back next year."

Naruto's voice wasn't really loud, but it drew everyone's attention.

"I'll take that as an insult. Suggesting that ninja wouldn't take this pathetic risk when we risk our lives every day is just stupid."

Hinata's voice chimed in.

"And besides, this is just a test. All you have to do is figure out what the question is testing you on. For example the last questions tested our cheating ability. This one will most likely test something else. We just have to figure out what it is, and chose the correct answer."

Ibuki glared at her.

Hinata smiled sweetly.

"You never said we couldn't tell everyone what the questions were about."

Naruto wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Ibuki mutter 'Female Hyuugas are much more evil than demons.' Hinata smiled brighter. Maybe he had met her mother.

Ibuki stared around at the people in the room. Nobody moved.

"Are you all staying here?"

Nobody said anything.

"Fine, you…all pass the first test."

There were a few cheers before Anko jumped through the window.

"I am Anko, and I'll be your next examiner. Meet me at training area 4, aka the Forest of Death."

* * *

Hinata and Naruto could have laughed at Anko. They both knew she was Yuuki's sister, since they looked so much alike, and since Anko had walked right up to Naruto and talked to him.

"So you're my nephew. Cool. Sorry, kid. If I knew that you were, I would have taken you in before."

* * *

Now they were stifling giggles as they signed their contracts with shaky hands.

Anko was flirting with Kakashi, and they both seemed to be enjoying it. The taunts had reached the ears of all the gennin, and most of them were just watching the show now.

Anko noticed them watching her, and backed away, her eyes shifting.

"Oh right, I've got to do something about those kids. You should go do whatever you do now Kakashi."

He smiled brightly before calling out to his team.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, make sure not to get yourselves killed. It'd be a shame to waste your talent."

Then he was gone in a poof of smoke.

Anko turned around, sighing heavily.

One bold kid called out to her.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Anko looked horrified.

"No way in hell!! Now, get to your gates, everyone."

Naruto and Hinata walked side by side, behind Sasuke. They waited for the sign to go into the forest, feeling impatient.

Naruto was upset his father hadn't come to see him, and was telling himself that it was okay, and that his father had probably been busy when he felt Hinata grab his arm.

He looked around and could feel the fear in the shadows.

They had just entered one of the best traps that could be made – simple and unexpected.

* * *


	6. Fire Of The Sun

* * *

Naruto stepped through the forest, being strangely quiet. Hinata glanced at him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Sasuke didn't care. He was glad that Hinata was on his team though, as she didn't talk loudly, was strong, and didn't have pink hair that said 'Just kill me now'.

He was upset that Naruto had changed. Somehow, he didn't think Naruto would care about their rivalry now.

And besides, people who changed did strange things, like his brother did.

Hinata dropped back to Sasuke's side, leaving Naruto to cover the front. She talked to him normally, but she blinked very frequently.

"Sasuke, Naruto and I have passwords. They are very useful. Your password is 'Me'. Like that old saying, I, myself and me."

He stared at her before realizing what she was trying to tell him. If he remembered every word she said when she blinked, and put them in order, they spelled a message.

Sasuke passwords are me like I.

He nodded, and spoke in a calm voice that carried to Naruto.

"Understood."

Hinata grinned at him, and took her place in front again.

Sasuke wondered why Naruto hadn't done that. But then, maybe he was overestimating Naruto. Maybe he wasn't that smart after all, and Sasuke was reading into signs that weren't there.

Sasuke shook his head slightly. There was no sense in worrying about it. He'd forget until the end of the exam.

Just then a kunai struck Naruto. Hinata gasped. She hadn't seen it coming, and even though she didn't have her Byakugan activated, she should have at least been slightly warned because she could sense chakra. It was one of her special talents that she could sense chakra so well.

Terror coursed though her. She could even sense her father, and he was much stronger than any gennin.

Hinata knew they weren't fighting a gennin from the start.

And it scared her.

Naruto just thought they were going to have a tough battle.

Sasuke thought the same thing, though in his mind it would be tough for his teammates, and easy for him.

Hinata didn't think it would really help to scare them. So she said nothing.

A creepy laugh was heard near them.

Naruto rushed over, and Sasuke followed quickly.

Hinata went as well; however, she kept a firework near her fingers. She knew Yuuki would be an examiner, so she talked to her about it, and they decided that if she or one of her teammates was in danger of being killed she would send off a purple and white firework.

Hinata was sure she would need it soon.

Sasuke began by throwing a few kunais. The person merely smiled, and disappeared into the air.

By the time Naruto knew there was someone behind him, it was too late.

Hinata saw this, and something broke in her. Someone had messed with _her _teammate, _her_ friend, and they were going to **die.**

She activated her Byakugan.

Sasuke saw this, and thought that she wanted to be prepared, and almost laughed at her. Naruto wasn't that strong, and he wasn't good with stealth anyway. They could wake him up when the battle was over

He tried to tell her it wasn't very smart.

"Hinata, you shouldn't use your bloodline limit for-

"Shut up. Now."

Sasuke stopped in surprise. He had realized Hinata wasn't that shy when she was assigned to his team, but she had never ordered anyone around before.

Of course, the pure venom of her voice helped with the conclusion he came to as well, which was that he could let Hinata fight this person, it wouldn't hurt, right?

Hinata turned her narrowed eyes onto Orochimaru, who almost shivered.

He knew she was just a gennin, and that she couldn't hurt him, but her killer intent was massive. If she wasn't controlling it, and he felt it, he would have said she was a demon, most likely the five tailed one.

Hinata wasn't stopping her emotions. Her mask of being a sweet shy girl had completely shattered into pieces. All her pent up anger was released.

And it was scary.

Sasuke made a mental note not to ever, ever, ever, make Hinata get this mad at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto was talking to, as he put it, Kyuubi-chan.

"So, you're an evil demon. Want to help me out?"

Kyuubi opened his eyes, and yawned. If Naruto wasn't trying to be serious, he would have laughed. The almighty demon looked a lot like a cute little animal at that time.

"No, I don't, kit. Not unless I can kill someone. Watching you kill someone won't be much fun."

Naruto put on his best pleading look.

"What if I let you kill them? You can control my body. I'll set a few guidelines, mind you, but it should work out. We both get what we want. My teammates and I are safe, and you get to kill something. I'm sure it'd be more fun than just sitting in a cage."

The Kyuubi laughed.

"You are a clever kit. I like you. You would have been a good demon. I agree. Tell me these guidelines."

Naruto smiled.

"First, you may not harm any of the people I ask you not to harm, in any way. Second, to anyone who doesn't know who you are, you're an evil spirit in my body. That's close enough to the truth. Third, no saying stupid things that will reveal too much about me."

The demon smiled, showing all of his teeth.

"Accepted."

* * *

As Naruto was talking with Kyuubi, Hinata had pulled out a kunai, put it in her mouth, and settled into a stance that no one had seen before.

"Interesting stance, child. What is it called?"

Hinata walked closer to him while answering.

"My name is Hinata. This is my taijutsu. I call it Gentle Fist, Hinata's Style."

"Very well…Hinata. We will see how good you are."

Orochimaru blurred out of sight, and landed beside Hinata. Before he could attack, she threw her upper body down, spun in a circle, and kicked him, using her hands as support for the kick. Her kick was chakra powered, and threw him in the air. It also broke a few of his ribs, and closed one of his tenjutsu points.

Orochimaru cursed. He felt like a complete fool. He had underestimated the opponent, and now he had paid the price. He began to wish he had noticed his female teammate more. Maybe he could have learned some healing techniques.

Hinata spun around on one hand, and settled back into the stance she had taken before.

Orochimaru didn't play around this time. He appeared in front of her, and slashed her with a sword that he had 'found'. Hinata didn't have enough time to prepare a counter.

* * *

There were long gashes on her arms and legs, but Hinata didn't seem to feel the pain. She had forgotten about the firework. In her mind, she had only one goal: Kill the man in front of her.

He kept on going around her, slashing again and again, moving so fast she couldn't see him. Her body moved back and forth. Her hands were bloody from blocking some of his hits, ever since he had broken all her kunais.

He hit her with the flat of his sword, and watched her hit a tree. Splinters of wood fell down on top of her when she fell back down to the ground.

Orochimaru silently laughed at her. She was strong, but she had to learn to control her anger. It wouldn't help her.

Orochimaru turned around to face Sasuke. It was a mistake.

He moved out of instinct, but the kunai still hit his shoulder.

He turned back around to see Hinata standing up. Her Byakugan had faded, and he could see that she had used up all of her chakra, to power the kunai.

He noticed that the boy's bag was open and cursed slightly. He should have known the girl would have gotten one of his kunais. He had underestimated the same person twice, and they had taken advantage of it.

Luck seemed to be with Hinata that day, because the kunai had cut through his tendons in his shoulder, and now Orochimaru couldn't use his right arm. He shifted his sword to his left arm.

Hinata said something before she fell on the ground, blood pooling around her.

"You'll die. I trust my teammates. Sasuke, his right arm is useless. Use it to your advantage."

She spoke the last sentences louder than the first ones.

That was when Naruto woke up. His eyes were pure red, he had fangs, and his chakra surrounded him in a fox like outline.

Orochimaru barely dodged as 'Naruto' leapt towards him, one hand stretched out, aiming to tear him into pieces.

A rumbling growl came out of Naruto's mouth.

"It seems I have gotten slow. Never mind, I will still kill you."

Orochimaru stopped completely. He knew that the person in front of him wasn't Naruto.

"What happened?"

'Naruto' laughed. For some reason, it scared Sasuke more than Orochimaru's laugh.

"The kit let me out to play. I wanted to kill something, and he said I could kill you. I am sure it will be fun. I'm not as strong in this body, so that'll make it a challenge." 

Orochimaru smiled.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to test that out. I'll be leaving now."

He disappeared in a bright, blinding white light. It seemed to have something to do with a seal.

Kyuubi went back into Naruto's mind, but not before telling him something.

"Next time you see that insolent snake, let me kill him. It will be a pleasure."

Naruto sat down heavily, his head spinning. When he moved, it was to go over to Hinata. She was dying from blood loss. It was obvious that she would not live, even with the best medic nin in the world healing her.

After having a chat with Kyuubi, Naruto began doing a lot hand seals. Sasuke watched, curious.

Naruto put his hands beside Hinata, as though he was praying.

White seals formed on the ground, and a thick coil of red chakra curled around Hinata, as though embracing her. A circle of fire burned around her, so no one could see what was happening.

Naruto stood back and watched. When the fire died down, he went and picked Hinata up, bridal style.

Her hair was an orange red color, and she had a strange symbol on her left cheek. When Naruto looked closer, he could see that it said 'Whirlpool'.

However, he ignored these conditions. Hinata was healed completely, and that was all that mattered to him.

Naruto beckoned to Sasuke, who followed him with only a slight 'Hn', and no protest about Naruto telling him what to do. He was a bit too awed to do so anyway.

Naruto stared at the setting sun as he made a new promise.

'No matter what it takes, I will always make sure Hinata is safe.'

* * *


	7. Be Nice To Kyuubi

"Naruto, what was that?"

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, and could see he seemed confused. He decided to play stupid. There was no sense telling Sasuke anymore than he had to.

"You mean the chakra?"

Sasuke glared at him, wondering why Naruto made everything he tried to learn about him hard.

"No. The…voice."

Naruto grinned at him. Sasuke didn't see the feral part of it, as he was used to ignoring he teammate.

"That's my dark side. He's like an evil spirit. And the chakra comes from him, since we're like different people, we have different chakra sources. Or at least that's what he said. Sometimes he takes over my body too."

Sasuke was satisfied. He now knew why Naruto was strong, and why he was acting differently. But he wanted to know something else.

"How do you get a 'dark side'?"

Naruto sighed. He knew Sasuke would ask that question, even though it was pointless. Sasuke would never be as strong as him. No one was as strong as Kyuubi.

"I don't know. He just showed up one day."

Sasuke was annoyed, but he didn't say anything more. He decided to ask Naruto's 'dark side' when he next came out.

Naruto sat down in a small 'tree cave' as he called it.

"Hey, Sasuke, can you watch Hinata-hime for me?"

Hinata was still asleep, but she had mumbled a few words. Nothing else had changed, except for Naruto realizing that the symbol on her cheek was actually his last name.

Sasuke snorted.

"Why should I? What are you going to do?"

Naruto blinked, acting as though Sasuke was stupid.

"I'm going to set traps. We can't leave until Hinata-hime's better, and we need an earth scroll."

Sasuke scowled.

"Why shouldn't I set the traps? Knowing you, you'd just make a mess of it, and get yourself hurt."

Naruto smirked.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. He wasn't used to seeing the blond gennin _smirk_. Smile, grin, yes, but he never smirked.

"Sasuke, I admit I'm not good at the things you are good at. But I am a _prankster._ We are the _best _at setting traps. Haven't you noticed that I was never actually caught 'in the act', and that I just admitted to doing whatever it was?"

Sasuke huffed, and sat down.

"You'd better be right."

Naruto laughed lightly as he walked away.

After setting a lot of traps, some deadly, some just amusing, used to kill, and to make a team fight with each other, Naruto sat down about three feet away from Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't notice, and Naruto smiled, pleased with his genjutsu. Everyone thought he couldn't do genjutsu to save his life, when he was a master at it, and had created at least twenty different genjutsus himself.

Naruto though, was talking to Kyuubi.

"When will she wake up?"

Kyuubi glared at him, and then sighed.

"You humans are so stupid. She'll wake up depending on how strong her mind is. Her chakra won't come back for a month though."

Naruto was not going to give up.

"Well, she said something in her sleep. Does that help?"

Kyuubi cursed.

"That isn't normal."

Naruto was shaken, but it didn't show on his face.

"Do you know what will happen?"

Kyuubi shook his head.

"No. But I have a guess. I think…she's going to be able to use my chakra aswell. And maybe hear me. I'm not sure on that."

"So what was supposed to happen?"

"She was simply supposed to be healed. But I forgot something."

Naruto resisted the urge to hit the fox demon.

"And what is that?"

Kyuubi grinned.

"Her bloodline limit…was given to her clan by the two tailed cat demon. She has a touch of demon chakra in her already, and her demon chakra has absorbed it, and formed a link to me."

Seeing Naruto's confused face, Kyuubi explained further.

"Demons can form links with one another, and trade chakra through them. Normally, only demons who were close friends did this."

Naruto was now a bit curious.

"Did you have any close friends that you formed a link with?"

It was the first time he saw Kyuubi's eyes lose their glow. He seemed less like an evil demon, and more like someone who had loss everyone close to them.

"Yes. Sorayuri, Aka, and Reisama. The one tailed raccoon-dog, the two tailed cat, and the five tailed wolf."

Naruto blinked.

"Will you tell me about them?"

"Aka was a one tailed demon, but he made up for it with his ninjutsus. No one knew more than he did, and he always used them to make traps. He was my best friend, or my brother, I was never sure. Reisama is the master of genjutsu. She was a lot like an older sister, always watching out for me, but also embarrassing me. Sorayuri was the two tailed cat demon. She always said she 'had no special talent' but she knew more about seals than anyone else…….I loved her."

Naruto smiled slowly, beginning to feel sad for the demon, and now finding a way to cheer him up.

"You mentioned everything about them in past tense, but I know that they're not dead. None of the demons are, or everyone would have known."

"Maybe you aren't so bad, kit."

Naruto had a feeling similar to when he released his kage bushins as he was sent out. He knew a lot of things he hadn't known a moment before.

Kyuubi left him with a few words.

"The vixen will wake up within ten hours."

Naruto relaxed, and went through the new information. He now knew two lightning jutsus, three water jutsus, one fire jutsu, one ice jutsu, one earth jutsu, and ten wind jutsus.

He also knew the basics on how to use every weapon.

Naruto also noticed his senses had increased, including his sixth sense.

Naruto decided he'd have to help Kyuubi more often.

Naruto walked back into the tree cave, moving slowly to get used to his new senses. He sat down heavily beside Sasuke and Hinata, and brought out a kunai.

Sasuke looked on as Naruto pulled out a thick piece of wood from his coat pocket, and began to slice pieces off of it.

Within an hour, Naruto had carved a small fox, which looked very lifelike.

Sasuke was not pleased to know that Naruto had some skill at anything. He was even more annoyed when Naruto commented about it.

"This is pretty bad. I should try again. Sasuke, you don't mind staying here, right?"

Sasuke didn't reply, but he did speak as Naruto was leaving.

"If you don't succeed as a ninja, you can always be a wood carver."

He was surprised when Naruto just smiled at him.

"Yeah, I guess I can."

Naruto left before Sasuke could say anything more.

He had a theory, and wanted to test it.

He went near a puddle, and then thought about everyone who made him mad, who had hurt him.

When he saw his eyes turn reddish, he stopped and turned around. He remembered that that meant he was using Kyuubi's chakra, from his mission with Tazuna.

There were foxes all around him. One even had three tails.

Naruto had two choices: Act like an idiot, or leave. He chose the first one.

"Um, hi? Can you talk?"

The three tailed waved its tails around, and all of them except for three left.

"Yes, I can speak. I wish to know if you are Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto sat down.

"OOOkay….well that is my name."

The three tailed fox nodded.

"I am pleased to meet you, Naruto-sama. You may simply call me Kitsune."

Naruto shrugged, and montioned to the three foxes still there.

"Okay. Why are those foxes here?"

Kitsune seemed confused.

"You do not know?"

After a few seconds he laughed.

"I see. You wanted us to come, yet you knew nothing of us. A clever trick, kit. I will explain. These foxes will do whatever you ask of them. I am sure they will tell you their names. As I am no longer needed, I will leave. They cannot speak yet, however if you use that chakra again and let them absorb it, it will allow them to. Good-bye, Naruto-sama."

Kitsune left, disappearing within seconds.

Naruto sighed, and began pulling out Kyuubi's chakra again. The foxes rubbed up against his hands for a few seconds before they two fiery tails grew which turned into normal fox tails, except for the fact that they were strangely colored.

The first one had one pure black tail. He bowed to Naruto.

"What do you wish for me to do, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto smiled.

"First, stop calling me Naruto-sama. You can call me whatever you like. Second, I want you to go find someone called Arashi aka the Yondaime and tell him that there is someone much stronger than a gennin in this forest, and that he smells like snakes. And tell me your name."

The fox seemed surprised, but quickly answered.

"My name is Yami. I will deliver this message to Arashi only, correct, Naruto-san?"

Naruto nodded, and Yami ran away.

Another fox came up, with one pure silver tail.

"My name's Keiko. Nice to meet you, Naruto."

Naruto relaxed a bit. She seemed less formal than Yami.

"You'll watch and take care of Hinata-hime, my teammate. She's inside a tree trunk close to here. Try to make sure Sasuke doesn't see you. You don't mind, right?"

Keiko grinned.

"No, don't worry; I'll take good care of your girlfriend, Naruto."

She ran off before Naruto could reply. He frowned, and then spoke to the last fox, which had one golden tail.

"I need to know your name."

He rolled his eyes, but answered anyway.

"The name's Isamu. Those were my siblings."

Naruto didn't seem to care.

"You're staying with me. Consider yourself an accomplice in everything I do, good or bad. Now, we're going back to camp."

Naruto forgot about the piece of wood, but that was the smallest of his problems. He saw three sound ninjas approaching his traps.

Naruto grinned, and spoke quietly to Isamu.

"This is going to be fun. Watch."

Isamu looked up to see sunlight glinting off Naruto's pointed teeth.


	8. Don't Guess

* * *

Arashi looked up from his ramen, and stared.

There was a large fox with three tails standing right in front of him. And then it spoke.

"Arashi-san, I have been asked to deliver a message to you from Uzumaki Naruto. He and his team fought someone much stronger than a gennin, and their opponent had a summoning contract with snakes."

Yami then bowed, and left in a poof of smoke.

Arashi forgot about his ramen. The Hokage had to be warned.

* * *

Naruto slipped back into the tree cave, which startled Sasuke.

"How did you get in here? Why do you have a fox with three tails?"

Naruto grinned at him.

"Don't worry; he isn't a demon fox, not really. Isamu's a part of the team now. Apparently, my family has an affinity for foxes, so he came with me."

Sasuke was greatly annoyed. Naruto had gained yet another thing from his 'family'. He was about to say something else when Naruto shook his head, and pointed to the three sound ninja.

"Look at this."

Sasuke was reluctant to listen to Naruto, but decided to see how well he set up traps. He didn't forget it.

The first thing was simple. It was a well placed rock, which made the girl fall down.

"Kin that was pathetic. You tripped over a rock." said the one with bandages all over his face, which left one eye visible. Kin stood up, and brushed her black hair out of her face.

"Shut up, Dosu."

"Guys-

"That's all you can say? Shut up?"

"Guys-

"Go to hell."

"Dosu-

"Shut up, Zaku."

A second after he said that, Dosu was pink. A bright, bright pink. The can of paint above him was still dripping.

Kin began to laugh, until she tripped over a rock...again. This time, her feet went straight into the air, and her head landed on the ground in a muddy puddle.

This time, Dosu laughed.

Watching with great interest, Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"How did you find a bucket of pink paint in a forest?"

Naruto just looked at him as if he had two heads.

"I bring my prank supplies everywhere I go."

Sasuke decided not to ask anything else.

Naruto shrugged. He just kept them in a thin summoning scroll.

Zaku didn't bother telling Dosu about the next trap that was coming, seeing as he wanted to see what would happen next.

It was a mistake.

A rain of kunais came out of the trees and thudded into Dosu's body. He landed on the ground, red blood mixing with the pink paint.

Kin stared in horror. She had never expected a gennin to make traps like that one.

Naruto saw his chance and quickly performed a few hand seals, which put Kin in a genjutsu. He whispered the name of the jutsu as he finished.

"Kyuubi's Fire."

Kin was already feeling the effects of one of the few genjutsus that Naruto had designed for combat. She fell to the forest floor, and began shaking.

Zaku decided to help Kin and moved closer, and was forced to flip backwards as a rain of kunai came out of the trees.

Sasuke was scared out of his mind. He had never killed anyone, but Naruto did, and he didn't seem to care.

"Sasuke, you and I will go get that Zaku person, and Isamu, you stay and knock out that girl, Kin. Make sure she'll stay out a long time."

Sasuke frowned, wondering how Naruto knew Zaku's name, as he was too far away to hear the Sound ninja's conversations. Isamu seemed cheerful at the thought of doing something.

"Right. See ya, Naruto."

He ran over to where Kin was, easily going in and out of the trees.

Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"He'll be busy with my traps for a while. First, I'll attack him with two clones using a henge to look like us. Then, we'll attack from behind."

Naruto didn't wait to see if Sasuke agreed. He leapt into the trees above Zaku.

Sasuke snorted. He didn't think Naruto could do a thing, but he made sure that it looked like he wasn't in the tree. There was no reason to ruin Naruto's plan for nothing.

'Naruto' attacked from the right and ran straight at Zaku. 'Sasuke' threw a very large rock at him from the trees. Zaku dodged both of their attacks, before he saw a falling log right in front of him.

He blasted it into pieces.

Up in the trees, Naruto took note of how he used his hands.

At the same time, Kin was knocked unconscious, which for her, was a relief. Naruto's genjutsu was many things, but weak they were not.

Zaku was about to turn around when he felt cold metal rub against his neck. Naruto's voice whispered into his ear.

"If you want to live, give us your scroll."

Zaku pulled out an earth scroll, and handed it to someone behind him. After a few seconds, it was taken out of his hands. As soon as the scroll was gone, the kunai was taken away from his neck.

Zaku turned around and hit Naruto with a strong blast of air and sound. Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Zaku cursed as he realized that one of his teammates was dead, and the other was gone, probably dead.

Naruto had gone back into the tree, and used a genjutsu to hide his team and himself. Sasuke stared at the person he thought was his teammate.

"Sasuke, we've got to get to the tower. I'll take Hinata-hime, you take Kin. I'll take the earth scroll, and you keep the heaven. Let's go."

Sasuke slung Kin over his shoulder, and walked away.

* * *

"N…Na…Naruto-kun?" Naruto turned and grinned at Hinata, relieved that she had woken up when they were within twenty feet of the tower.

"Don't worry, Hinata-hime. We got both scrolls and everything's gonna be alright, I promise. We're almost at the tower right now, so you should get off."

Hinata blushed deeply as she realized that Naruto was carrying her. She slipped onto the ground, and muttered something to Naruto softly.

"Sorry."

Naruto smiled at her.

"It's okay. 'Sides, you kept that person from killing us."

Hinata looked horrified as the memory came back to her.

"But…shouldn't I have died?"

Naruto's smile grew brighter to hide his unease.

"Yeah, but I used a forbidden technique to get you back. Only thing is, your hair is red now, and you have some sort of mark on your cheek."

Hinata nodded, accepting the information as fact.

Naruto suddenly stopped.

"What's going on?"

* * *

Zaku was about to attack a Sand team. He thought he could take their scroll, and threaten the two of them to act as his temmates.

He picked the wrong Sand team.

Zaku heard two words as he was dying.

"Desert Coffin."

* * *


	9. So Clear

Naruto smiled, confused, Hinata still on his back. Right in front of him were a large group of people, all in white coats, talking to each other. He let Hinata get off and walked up to said people, leaving Sasuke and Hinata behind. One turned and looked at him, and Naruto fell to the ground.

He looked up to see a young man walking towards him, and for some reason, Naruto felt as though he knew him.

Naruto's vision blurred. He felt like he was going to vomit, and opened his mouth to tell the man so, but before he could, Kyuubi's charka (which he had felt gathering, but ignored) burst out and flew through him. This was not a bit of charka, a touch of Kyuubi's power. It was all of it.

Naruto didn't know if he screamed or not. At first he felt Kyubi's anger, after that, nothing other than pain.

For a second, Naruto tried to fight, but just as quickly he knew his control was slipping. And, for some reason, he didn't want to fight. So Kyuubi was going to kill everybody? So what? Why did he care? He didn't love any of them.

That was the last thought Naruto had for a while.

The first thing Naruto felt when he opened his eyes was anger. Kyuubi's, not his. Not that he cared. The entire world was so much brighter, and clearer, and so much sharper. It captivated him.

"**THEY **_**USED**_** ME! **_**ME,**_** THE GREATEST OF ALL DEMONS!**"

Naruto flinched, and put a hand to his head.

"Shut up." He muttered.

"**You don't know, do you?"**

"Know what?" asked Naruto, who had switched from annoyed to scared. What had the Kyuubi done?

"**Do you think I'll **_**tell **_**you? This is just too funny."**

"Hey, furball, tell me what's going on." Demanded Naruto.

After waiting a few seconds for a response, and getting none, Naruto sighed, and tried to sit up. Normally, he would have kept on demanding answers, but right now, he was just too tired.

He succeeded in sitting up, though it took a while, he was just so tired.

But then two things got through his dazed mind.

One, he was naked.

Two, his fingernails looked more like claws than fingernails.

Narutoís first reaction was a curse, and his second reaction was to wonder what the Kyuubi did.

After that though, Naruto decided he needed some clothes. Which led to him looking around.

"What..what did I do?" he asked, his voice shaky.

The entire area around him was demolished. Nothing was left standing. To make matters worse, there was blood everywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere, but close enough.

This time Naruto really did vomit.

Afterwards, he wiped his mouth on his hand, and managed to stand up, just barely.

"Hinata." he said softly. What if she had died?

But before he could really consider that, he realized something. There were shattered bits of stone around him, and natrally, some wood too. But the building he had been in was made completely of wood. Everything in Konoha was.

And if he wasn't in Konoha, where was he?

For a few seconds Naruto pondered this, but then he decided he didn't care. He was just so tired...

Naruto shook his head. He couldn't just fall asleep, not now. He had to make a list of priorities.

Finding clothes was on the top of the list. Unfortunately the only clothes around were on dead bodies.

Naruto took a deep breath, and moved towards the closest body. It was cut into pieces, and burned beyond recognition. Naruto resisted the urge to vomit again, and wondered if all the people were like this.

Eventually he shrugged.

"Not like I'll find anything hanging around here." he said under his breath.

Naruto started walking around, pausing once in a while to catch his breath. He was still tired, and even though moving around had helped, he still couldn't walk far without a rest.

As Naruto moved farther and farther out, he became even more certain this was not in Konoha. Konoha didn't have buildings this large. They just didn't exist.

He didn't have any luck with finding clothes until he found someoneís body, relatively intact.

The person was male, and his neck was snapped. Since he also wasn't affected by the fire, he was perfect. Well, except for the fact there was some blood on him.

Naruto didn't let that stop him. He felt bad about taking his clothes, but in the end, was too impatient to bother looking for someone else. Besides, he was dead, what did he care?

After he was dressed ( in a white shirt one size too big, and navy blue pants that were just a little too long) Naruto walked away from the remains of the building.

He looked up at the forest, and stood in the same spot for a minute or two. Logically, he knew that he should leave. But he knew he didn't have enough energy to get far.

As a compromise, Naruto walked a little ways into the forest, and then used charka to jump to a tree branch.

He barely made it, stumbling and almost falling when he hit the branch.

Dizzy and feeling faint, Naruto managed to get to the place where branch and tree joined out of sheer will power. After that, he fell asleep instantly.

Naruto opened his eyes again, and then threw a hand over them. The sunlight wasn't shining directly into his eyes, but it still annoyed him.

After a few seconds Naruto stood up and stretched, feeling stiff. He ignored the voice in his head that was telling to just go back to sleep. The voice sounded a bit like Kakashi, when he thought about it.

Strangely enough, he was more thirsty than hungry.

Naruto knew it wasn't the best idea, but he decided to just keep on walking until he found food, water, or civilization.

He did find a river about, say, ten minutes after he started walking, which was really very lucky for him.

After all, rivers leaded you to towns, not that Naruto knew, or cared.

He leaned down and used his hands as a makeshift cup, slurping up the water as though he thought it would disappear in the next few seconds.

After doing this, he stopped, wiped his mouth, looked down at the water, and froze.

No, it wasn't because his hair was a bright, wild orange instead of yellow. Nor was it because his eyes were now purple and not a clear cerulean blue.

Naruto noticed all of that, yes, but the reason he was so shocked was simple: his headband wasn't there.

Narutoís headband had signified a lot of things in his life, and he had only taken it off to go to bed. So, finding it missing was, to say the least, horrifying to him.

After getting over the first shock, Naruto started to notice other things that were different about him.

His hair, which had always stuck straight up still did so, but it also went out to the sides, making him look rather like an orange porcupine.

His whisker marks were thicker, bolder, and somehow more ragged, as though he got them from a large claw scratching his face.

His eyes were less round and more oval.

His teeth were sharper, and he even had little fangs, though they couldn't be seen unless he opened his mouth.

Naruto felt almost faint. He had felt strange when he woke up, but he had thought it was just because his clothes were too long for him. And before, he had been too tired to notice anything.

"Kyuubi?" he called quietly, trying to be respectful. He knew instinctively that Kyuubi was not someone he could be friends with, but who liked some respect. He wasn't sure why the Kyuubi had seemed so likeable and helpful the last time he met him, but he was certain he would not be that lucky again. Little helpful demon foxes? Must have been a dream...

Kyuubi didn't answer.

Naruto gave a frustrated sigh, and then a sharp nod.

If Kyuubi didn't tell him what was going on, he'd find out himself.

And with that thought in his mind, Naruto stood up and walked away from the river.

He was glad to have a goal again.

I've probably shocked you all into heart attacks...one because I updated (and will continue to do so) and two because I completely destroyed most of the sotry as you know it. Well, wouldn't you know, I'm evil. Feel free to ask questions...

Note: All the other chapters will be under slight revision for a while, so don't take them completely seriously.

Note #2: I need a beta. A good one, that corrects more than just grammer. Though I'd settle for one who just corrects grammer...any takers?


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